RMSS: First Meeting

Research Methodology in Social Sciences

Dr. David Sichinava
September 1, 2018

First Meeting

Today's plan

  • Research methods, what are we up to?
    • Logistics, assessments, etc.
  • Lecture: Science, Theory, Knowledge, and… Black Swans

Class logistics:

Last weeks were quite hectic at IBSU, therefore starting from the next week we'll coordinate in terms of SMART. All your books, grades, assignments will be posted there. We will be communicating through SMART as well.

What are we up to? Class structure

Drawing Lecture

Class structure:

Drawing Lecture

Drawing Seminar

Books (available through SMART):

Drawing Literature

  • Kellstedt, P.M., and G.D. Whitten. 2013. Political Science Research. (2nd ed.).

Assessment:

Assessment:

  • Participation (10%)
  • Research paper (20%)
  • Midterm (20%)
  • Presentation (10%)
  • Final exam (40%)

Before we start...

On a piece of paper write down last TWO digits of your phone number

Why should we study research methods?

Drawing

In God we trust. Others bring data

Knowledge models

Drawing

  • Autoritative
  • Mystic
  • Rationalist

Sources of knowledge

Drawing

  • Personal experience
  • Common sense
  • Experts and authorities
  • Media
  • Ideological beliefs
  • Tradition

Humans are error-prone...

Drawing

Humans are error-prone...

Drawing

Humans are error-prone...

  • Inaccurate observations
  • Overgeneralization
  • Selective observation
  • Illogical reasoning

Finally, about Black Swans

Drawing

...and on revolutions

Drawing

Two foreign words

Ontology: a set of concepts and categories in a subject area or domain that shows their properties and the relations between them.

Epistemology: the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion.

The nature of research

Drawing

Scientific reasoning

  • Idiographic: relating to the study or discovery of particular scientific facts and processes, as distinct from general laws.

  • Nomothetic: relating to the study or discovery of general scientific laws

Scientific reasoning

Drawing

  • Deduction
    • Universal generalization
    • Explanation
    • Usage of formal logic

Scientific explanation

Drawing

  • Induction
    • Derives from probabilistic generalization and indicates to trends
    • We ARE NOT entirely sure in our explanation

Inductive (probabilistic explanation)

Drawing

Drawing

Forecasting

If \( X → Y \) and \( X \) exists, then the existence of \( Y \) is likely

Drawing

Understanding

  • Interpretation

Epistemology: positivism

Drawing

Epistemology: positivism

  • Objective reality exists, it can be understood and general laws can be derived

  • Comte, Durkheim, Bacon, Popper, Talcott-Parsons, Merton, Lasarsfeld…

Epistemology: positivism

  • Phenomenalism: Only phenomena can be studied scientificaly

  • Deductivism: The goal of theory is to create a hypothesis, what in turn needs to be checked

  • Inductivism: Knowledge is derived through collecting facts which in turn grounds a theory

Epistemology: interpretativism

  • Social and natural sciences study different things therefore have different objectives

  • Social sciences study a subjective meaning of a phenomenon, not general laws

  • Weber (Verstehen - understanding), Husserl, Wittgenstein, Schutz…

Epistemology: interpretativism

Drawing

Recap: epistemology

Positivism Interpretativism
General laws of human behavior Study informants' in in-depth and empathic manner
Social sciences should use similar methods to natural science As we study our subjects through their viewpoint, the logic of natural sciences are not useful
Human behavior can be explained through general laws As humans are complex subjects, it is impossible to derive general laws

Quantitative versus Qualitative

Quantitative თვისებრივი
The role of theory Deductivism: theory testing Inductivism: theory generation
Epistemology: Similar to social sciences, that is *positivism(s) Interpreativism

Qualitative research

Drawing

Qualitative research

  • Social life should be studied in an in-depth manner

  • The rolse of natural environment

  • The role of understanding and interpreting the phenomenon

Qualitative research

  • Interviewing

  • Focus groups

  • Observation

  • Case study

Theory of qualitative research: symbolic interactionalism

  • People give meanings to the phenomena and act according to these emanings

  • Meanings form through social interaction

  • Social action depends on the process of interpretation

  • The meaning of things change over the process of interpretation

Blumer, 1969

The history of qualitative research

Drawing

Quantitative research

Drawing

Quantitative research

  • Studies the phenomenon in quantitative manner, that is how much/how many

  • Decribes and unveils associations and causal relations

    • Causality vs. correlation
  • Social reality can be understood through general laws which are measurable

Quantitative research

  • Opinion polls

  • Randomized experiments

  • Census

  • Big data

Quantitative research

Drawing

Drawing